Innocence
by meli-fan
Summary: People make harmless mistakes every day. But sometimes your mistakes may ruin another person's life. What happens when you realise what you did? And how do you fix not only the mistake, but the person whose life you ruined?
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or it's characters, but I do own the plot of this story and any original character I may create._

Prologue

My name is Rachel Barbra Berry.

I'm twenty-eight years old.

According to the United States of America law, I've committed voluntary manslaughter, In other words…

I've killed someone.

Now she's stuck at Bayview Correctional Facility for nine years.

Nine freaking years, that's one hundred and eight months. That's three thousand-two hundred and forty days, God knows how many hours.

She has been here a whole five minutes and she hates it already.

She saw the looks the other inmates were giving her and she almost hated them for looking at her with that knowing look.

'Right there, another one of us' that's what that… sorry excuse of female human beings is thinking.

But she's not another inmate; she's a star, a bright shinning star; A star that is locked in a cage, hidden in a place where she can't shine.

Yeah, she's depressed, wanna know why?

Broadway gave her standing ovations; countless amounts of people clapped each and every single one of her performances. The cheers, the admiration, the awards, the joy of her life, it was all taken away from her.

Just because of a stupid crush.

You may think that she's an idiot for risking it all for a man, but she isn't. Because she may be a star now, she may have lived in an Upper East Side penthouse with a perfect view of Central Park, she may be a diva or fashion example for today's women. But deep down inside she's the same girl from the Bronx who no one ever took a second glance and was mocked for her big nose, her second-hand clothes and her dreams of success.

She's the same girl whose father abandoned and whose junky mother never cared about, the same insecure teenage girl who cried herself to sleep because no boy would kiss her. And even though she went to LaGuardia High School and got her first boyfriend and eventually Juilliard gave her a scholarship and the dream came true, she never experienced that thing.

Love.

Finn Hudson was the first boy who ever admired her and who told her those precious three words, and even when sometimes she felt like he wanted to hide their relationship, she never felt any less loved. He was so perfect and dreamy, why trying to ruin the only chance she could ever had with a nice guy?

So what if his brother was her main enemy and she never met the rest of his family? So what if they had only being together for two months before her incarceration? So what if sometimes he gave her all those back-handed compliments and sometimes forgot their dates?

She still would've done everything for him.

What a stupid girl she was.

She had told him, 'I would die for you'. Apparently he took it as 'I would kill for you'. But that was over now.

It was time to move on and put her plans into action.

During the time of the trials, when she had realized how blind she had been all along, especially about him, she had taken a decision.

She would behave as perfectly as possible during her time in prison and try to get released from jail before; her lawyer told her it was a possibility.

After that, she would give herself a few years to try to make it back to Broadway, and if that doesn't happen, then she will make a plan to dedicate to something else and live her life away from shinning lights and marquees with her name.

As she lays in her bunk, the moonlight making it's way into the cell by the small window (with bars of course), thinking of the man who put her here. Not Kurt Hummel, may he rest in peace, nor Finn Hudson, may he die a painful death please. No, she's thinking about Noah Puckerman. Finn's best friend and for a short amount of time, someone she considered a friendly acquaintance.

She hates that man with all her might.

She hates him because he's too blind to see what kind of man his best friend is

She hates Detective Noah Puckerman because he sent her to jail for a crime she did not commit.

_Tbc…_

_Please review._


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or __its characters, but I do own the plot of this story and any original character I may create._

Chapter 1

It was beautiful Monday in New York City, the sun, the birds, the beautiful woman, the laughing children, etc.

Detective Noah Puckerman however, was in a terrible mood.

He had been rejected, for the second time, by the FBI. Not even the fact that he, one of the youngest sergeants in NYPD, had helped to discover and dismantle an illegal drug trade organization seemed to be enough for this assholes.

He was joggling when he got the call from his partner, Artie Abrams, about the murder of some shady shop owner who seemed to be smurfing mafia's money with his antiques shop.

It was an interesting case and he didn't have any better thing to do, even if it was his free day, he ran back to his Manhattan apartment to shower and get changed, before driving to the station.

Since he lived alone and had no children, he enjoyed a very comfortable life style. The only thing in which he spent was his twenty-years-old sister education. He owned it to his parents.

His father was a cop and his mom a nurse, he had grown up in a nice house in Queens, thanks to his parents efforts. His parents were one of those smart people who had waited to have a nice financial situation to have children. Even when their busy schedules, they had always found a way to take good are of their children and maintain a good relationship whit them.

The one and only big disagreement he ever had with them had been his career choice. At the tender age of eighteen, he had dreamed of being a musician. Not even a huge rockstar, maybe just producing for other artist or backup for studio recordings.

His mother didn't think it was a good idea. A woman from a small town, she reflected what her generation and what small-town-people tend to think: Don't dream to high because you will fall too hard. She had settled (happily) for nothing too glamorous because that was what her parents and the people from her town had teached her.

But he was a New Yorker; he grew up listening to the stories of people who made it, even when everything seemed to be against them. He, like everyone else in this city, believed in hard work and perseverance. His father agreed with him, so he was happy.

His mother however, had yelled and cried, because she had worked hard and postponed some dreams of her own so her children could have a nice education and were able to go to college and get a degree in something that would secure them a high income. "Music" was not exactly the way she saw her son making money.

So after many Jewish guilt trips and long serious conversations, he decided to study Criminology at Temple and go back to NYC to work in NYPD like his old man. As a little boy he loved to play with plastic guns and chase the bad guys, loved to hear the stories his father told and once or twice he worked helping with paperwork and bringing coffee at the station.

After paying his student loans, he suddenly had much more money than before (you don't win too much money as a cop, but if you don't spend too much, it's actually a very good pay.) and decided to help his parents by paying part of his sister college (she would have to pay half after she graduates) so his folks could go to that trip to England they had always dreamt of.

As he drove through the streets of Manhattan, he thought about his lack of a social life. He had lots of friends (he was quite popular everywhere he went) and he went out every once in a while, but he was mostly a workaholic. If he had a wife, she would have been tired of his lacking presence by now. Not that he ever thought of marriage or a certain brown-eyed beauty too often.

A loud sight escaped his lips as the memory of Rachel Berry rushed back inside his head. He had suffered one of the worst curses a man could get; He had fallen in love with his best friend's girl.

It was a very weird crush, mostly because they hadn't even become friends; they had conversations here and there in parties and small gatherings but nothing else.

Finn was his roommate from college and his best friend, the tall guy came from one of those socialite families (well, his mother is a Vanderbilt, his father was a former marine who died when Finn was two) and he never understood what Rachel saw in him.

Finn Hudson was good-locking, fun, polite, good for jokes, had that cuteness girls loved, awesome at sports and, unlike some guys from the social elite, he wasn't a womanizer.

But that didn't make him the most trustworthy gut to date, he was the kind of dude who forgot dates and despises woman who are not hot enough or who don't flaunt his ego. He was nice with the girls that filled all of his expectations of a perfect girl. If the girl wasn't 'worthy enough' he would, almost unconsciously, he would treat her as second option.

That's what happened with Rachel. And it use to infuriate him so fucking much, it made his blood boil whenever they were lunching together and Finn would give her one his awful comments and a sad look passed across her face.

Ever since the first time he saw her, across the street waiting for them, he felt that… thing; Love. Or Infatuation or whatever.

She was so fucking breathtaking.

With that gorgeous hair, that smell that drove him crazy and her voice, oh her voice. During the two months she and Finn dated he couldn't have sex with any girl from the bar, because her face was just there burned in his mind. His infinite longing for her made him distracted and stupid, not to mention he had to use his hand every single night for those two months, because she haunted him in his dreams.

She was everything he seemed to look in a woman: strong, funny, cute, generous, sexy as hell, she was perfect.

She also turned out to be a criminal.

In the six months since her incarceration he had failed to get her out of his mind. She was fucking everywhere

As he arrived to the station, he immediately went in search for Artie.

"Hey yo, Abrams! Where's my case, C'mon let's get ready!" He shouted, excited for a new case.

"Dude, you're late, Williams and Gonzales already took it!" Said his partner from his desk, looking disappointed as well.

"Damn!"

"Let's go see if Rutherford is free for early lunch?"

"Deal!"

As they arrived at the prestigious firm Steinberg & Archibald, they extended their invitation to their lawyer friend Matt (who they met through Finn), who reluctantly declined because he had to have lunch with his soon to be ex-wife.

As Matt explained the details of his divorce to Artie (who was again listened to his bro problems even if they had already heard them about a million times), curiosity got the best of him and he started to search for the file about…

There. Hummel-Hudson vs. Berry.

He knew very little about Kurt Hummel, only that he was gay, Finn was his step-brother and he didn't like the gay boy too much. Mostly because Quinn Fabray, Finn eternal crush, was a closeted homophobic and didn't wanted a relationship with Finn because of his queer brother. What a bitch, honestly.

As he read the file, with all the information of the case, he half-listened/occasionally commented about Matt's psycho soon-to-be ex-wife.

He read all the declarations from the doctor from the morgue, from the co-workers of Rachel and Kurt, from their families…

His gaze stopped at Finns declaration…

"_Where were you at 21:40 pm, Mr. Hudson?"_

"_I was at the club 'Cheers', a friend of mine works there. I was chatting with her when I… Got the call."_

Wait. That is impossible. He was there from 21:05, the hour the trial started, to drink the pain of losing the illusion of perfect Rachel until around midnight. And he sure as hell didn't see Finn. What the fuck…?

"_Miss Lopez confirmed to the jury all declarations Mr. Hudson did."_

That didn't surprise him. Finn, Lopez and him had met in Temple. Santana's dream was to make it as an actress in Broadway, she actually auditioned for the same role Rachel use to have, but obviously didn't get it.

Santana had also been in lust with Finn for years.

She wanted him with an enormous passion and desire, in the few times they fucked, sometime his best friend's name slipped from her lips (he didn't care, their thing was only physical, he didn't give a damn about her) and, for a while, Rachel slipped from his, making Santana extremely angry, actually.

Buy lying about a murder is another thing.

As he and Artie walked to lunch, his friend lamenting Matt's situation, he was lost in his thoughts. Why did Finn lied? Why did Santana defended his statement? Was it possible that… That Rachel…

Was it possible that she was innocent?

Oh shit.

Well, he's going to find out.

Hours later, back at home, as he starts to look for his old notes about the case, he realizes he's about to do something completely crazy for a girl who was considered a criminal.

Oh fuck…

He's totally in love with Rachel Berry.

_Thanks for all the alerts, favorites and reviews, I'm terribly thankful for it. Please review!_


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or its characters, but I do own the plot of this story and any original character I may create._

Chapter 2

Lieutenant William Schuester was known for being very comprehensive and supportive of his officers, but lately he had started to think one of his best officers had a bullet in his head that nobody noticed in there because Sgt. Puckerman was acting very weird. His work lately has been flawed and… even deficient, which was weird because he used to be the example of good work.

That's why he's having this conversation at this very moment.

"Good Morning sir" The man in question was awkwardly standing at the door.

"How are you doing Puckerman?"

"Great"

"Good, good, take a seat." As the officer did just that, Lt. Schuester wondered how to approach the subject.

"What do you need me for, sir?"

"Listen son, I'm gonna be honest with you"

"Okay…"

"Are you in some kind of problem? Money maybe? Are your folks sick or did some girl broke your heart or something?"

"No, no, everything alright…May I ask why do you ask me this? I mean, thanks for caring but…?" The young officer let out a nervous laugh.

"It's just… you seem very distracted lately, it's clear that your head is not in your work." Immediately after he said those words, Sgt. Puckerman adopted a worried expression.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I promise this won't happen again…"

"It's ok, it's ok! Sometimes we have to accept that we are humans and that we have other problems beside catching bad guys. Now tell me, what's troubling you?" He kindly asked, offering a supportive smile. Nevertheless, Puckerman took a few minutes to think before speaking again.

"There's this case… Do you remember Rachel Berry? The Broadway star who…"

"Killed her competition? Yeah I remember her; it was on the tabloids and had a lot of press. My wife was devastated; she was a kind of a big fan of the girl."

"Yeah her… My friend Matt Rutherford was the lawyer of the Hummel-Hudson family and, the other day I had a chance of reading the trial description and the suspects declarations…"

"Ok…"

"I think there's something weird in the case, you know Finn Hudson is a friend of mine and I know some stuff… I don't know there are just some pieces that don't fit."

"Puckerman… if you want to take some time to look over the case…"

"Really? I mean, I know I shouldn't, I have responsibilities and maybe I'm just saying bullshit…"

"Son, we have a duty to society: to protect them from anything that may damage them. Sending an innocent girl to prison is damaging her, God knows what it's like to live trapped in a cage among murderers when you're not guilty of such a thing. If you have a feeling about this, follow it, that's basically what every detective does."

"Sir… why, thank you! I'm so thankful... I know I shouldn't leave my work like this but, damn there's something about the case…"

"There's something about the girl."

"What? No! I just want to do justice…"

"Whatever you say, son. Anyway, what's your first step?" Asked the man, his face lightening with the excitement. This new, secret and complicated case seemed to entertain him to no ends.

"Well…. I'll call Matt and see if I can get a look at those files."

"If he doesn't let you, you can always get and order to do so and all that shit."

"Yeah, but I'll try to be as quiet as possible."

"Wise decision, but before that you must do something else."

"What's that?"

"You must visit her and talk to her."

"What are you talking about? She won't see me, I bet she hates me, she must hate cops!"

"That may be true but you won't get anywhere if she doesn't tell you the truth herself."

"What do you mean?"

"You need to find the reason why she lied, of course."

"Lied about what?"

"I though you read the description of the trial."

"Only part of it, Why?" asked Noah, intrigued with his boss words.

"Rachel Berry declared herself guilty of all charges."

"Well shit, I didn't know that. Why would she do such a thing?"

Lt. Schuester just shrugged.

*/*

Being in prison was horrible, a few months into this shithole and she was already wishing she had the guts to kill herself. The food was horrible and the inmates treated her like fresh meat, meaning they would hit her, insult her, steal her food and touch her in places when no guard were close (which thankfully wasn't common).

She had expected her mother to come see her, but she really wasn't that surprised when she didn't show up. Her mother had only started to talk to her again when she had gotten her a new apartment outside of the ghetto she grew up. But now that money wasn't coming, she'll probably forget about her daughter.

It was a day like any other when a guard told her she had a visitor. A male one.

She was scared shitless. She had a few ideas of who this male person may be and all of her options were either terrifying or disgusting.

But when she got to the room and saw the man, the surprise made her stop dead in her tracks.

There, on the other side of the glass and waiting for her, was a tall man with soulful hazel eyes and masculine lines. The same men who many moths's ago made her feel guilty because he appeared in her fantasies when she was in love with his best friend.

So muscular and manly, in a police uniform and with that rough voice, he had represented something she had never had in her entire life: the feeling of safety, security and all the things she longed as a child.

She walked towards him and sat across him, looking him in the eye as she picked up the phone and finally spoke.

"Hello Noah."

"Hello Rachel."

_t__bc…_

_A.N.: I just want to use this opportunity to encourage you to make donations to help Japan and to pray for them. I live in Chile and I know what's like to feel like the world is going to come down at any second and the fear of not knowing if you're going to make it , the fear of being uncommunicated and not knowing about your family, the fear of going to sleep and the fear for your country's stability. So please, think about Japan. Sometimes you don't have to make something big, just pray for them and send them your good vibrations. That's all._


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or its characters, but I do own the plot of this story and any original character I may create._

Chapter 3

There they sat, right in front of each other, a thick glass the only thing separating them. Rachel looked so much different than before: her old angelic and sweet expression had changed to a hurt and angry one. What shocked Noah the most was the fact that the light in her eyes seemed gone. She had only been here for barely six months and it seemed like they had sucked the life out of her.

"How are you doing Rachel?"

"How do you think I'm doing Noah?" She responded in an irritated tone.

There was an awkward silence for few seconds before he got the courage to speak again, "Listen, I know being here must be hard…"

"Do you? I don't think so. It's so easy for you to say that but you don't get it. You couldn't possibly understand. God, I'd give anything for not being here, anything!"

She let her head fall on her palm while her right hand gripped the phone so hard that her knuckles soon became white. Desperate to ease her frustrations and stop her pain, he quickly tried to comfort her.

"Rach, if someone is giving you a hard time… I've got connections; I can get them transferred or something like that…"

She proudly lifted her head before flashing him a sad smile and answering: "Leave it, I've still got eight years and six months left, I must learn to fight my own battles".

"Please, let me…"

"Honestly Noah, the last thing I want is your help".

"Oh. Look Rachel, I'm sorry I…"

"Is that why you came Noah? To apologize? Because honestly, I don't want to hear it".

Her bitter response left him speechless for a few seconds before he dared to ask her something again.

"I came because I need to ask you something."

"What?"

"Why did you declare yourself guilty?"

Her eyes widened at his question, she seemed taken aback and maybe even a little scared. When she talked again, her voice was low and shaky.

"Noah… Why do you need to know?"

"I want to… I found out something about…Finn"

She simply looked at him and muttered a small 'oh' before looking out of the small window. Noah gave her a few seconds to collect her thoughts before asking again.

"Rachel?"

"What did you find out?"

"He lied. You lied."

She didn't answer, but it was pretty obvious from her sigh and her expression that Finn and she had indeed lied.

"Yeah, I know."

She looked sad and defeated, and he felt an ache in his stomach for making her feel so bad. He didn't know what had pushed Rachel to make the decisions she made, but it was obvious that she either regretted it or truly despised the fact that she lied. Obviously, seeing him was harsh for her and it was a remainder of the mistakes of her past and it pained her. In all honestly, the last thing he wanted was to hurt her and for a brief second he thought that it may be better if he leaved her alone.

But the detective in him needed to know why a person so successful and smart like Rachel would lie to a judge knowing she would face many years of incarceration.

"Why did you lie?"

"Because I had to!"

Her declaration didn't surprise him, but the fact the she seemed so regretful and angry definitely did shock him.

"But why? I don't get it… Look Rachel, I'm just trying to help you!"

"Help me with what?"

"I know you're innocent, okay?"

Once again, she looked surprised and remained silent for a moment. Rachel looked at him with a frown between her eyes and asked "How do you know?"

"You just confirmed it to me" , he half-joked and she gave him a very little smile. "I gotta admit that at the beginning I thought you were guilty. You and Kurt's relationship was obviously conflictive and…

"Yeah, I know very well that you used to think I was very much guilty of all charges."

Once again, the bitter tone in her answer shut him up and he looked at her right in the eye.

"Rachel, I'm sorry"

Her gaze softened at the sincere tone of his voice. "What made you realize I was innocent?"

"I saw Finn's declaration. He said he was at the club 'Cheers' at the time where the murder happened, but that it's not true because I was there at the time."

"I see."

"Where was he?"

"I think you know the answer to that Noah. He was at the theater, passing me Kurt's 'lucky' water bottle, telling me it was important that I gave it to his brother."

"Got it. But you still haven't answered my question, why did you declare yourself guilty? And don't tell me it was so you could get fewer years here because it was shit to your reputation and I know you care a lot about that stuff"

She smiled at his words, knowing how true they were, he did know her. Then she let out a sigh and admitted the truth. "I was forced to"

"Why would you do that?"

She seemed to meditate her answer for a moment before saying; "Noah, I need you to understand… It's really hard for me to talk about it. I didn't always live in an apartment in the Upper East Side. Unlike you and Finn I lived in a… bad place to grow up, I never met my father and my mom; she… was always busy working or sniffling drugs.

In a place like that there's always dealers that end up ruling everyone and it's like…God I hate the term ghetto, but it's not nice and you end up meeting the worst kind of people and it's just so difficult to break the hold they got on you…"

"Rachel, I'm so sorry" he wanted to hug her and kiss her until she smiled, but all he could do was offer her a pitiful glance.

"Don't be, it's not your fault I met those people. They're so bad Noah; they made such a horrible threats…"

She put her head in her hands once again, while Noah thought about the meaning of her words. Even though he understood what she was saying he still needed more information, so he insisted.

"Listen Rach, I don't have much time, I need you to tell what happened"

"They told me I…couldn't say who…"

"Why? What do they have on you?"

"My mom, they threatened to…"

She couldn't even finish the sentence, she started to sob uncontrollably.

"Fuck, please don't cry just… I just need a name; you don't have to tell me anything else. Just tell the name of the person who threatened to hurt your mother"

"Jesse. Jesse St. James."

*/*

Detective Puckerman sat at his desk, desperately writing information in his notepad. He looked mad, his frantic gaze shifting from the computer's screen to the sheets of his notepad. Finishing, he hurried down to his boss office.

"Lt. Schuester, sir?"

His superior looked up from a stack of papers and nodded towards the empty chair across his desk. After closing the door, he quickly started to share the information he had managed to found.

"I didn't get much out of her but I got a name."

"Well?" , Schuester seemed as excited as a little boy on Christmas, it was obvious that he felt excited about the case.

"Jesse St. James"

Lt. Schuester frowned at the name and stared at the wall, thinking. "His name sounds familiar to me, did you look him up?"

"Of course, turns out the guy has served time on several occasions"

"The charges?"

"Car stealing, minor drug trafficking, conspiracy and several shady things…"

Suddenly, something lighted up in Lt. Schuester. "I remember! We've been very careful with this guy because we believe he's in some kind of mafia or illicit group…"

"Well check this out, I looked up and guess what? He lived two stories down from Rachel Berry as a kid, and they went to the same primary school and high school."

"And what did he do?"

"I think, I think he threatened Rachel with hurting her mother if she didn't do the dirty job."

"Well then, this case may help us figure out the mystery that it is St. James. And Finn Hudson's involvement in the whole thing."

"Kurt Hummel's murder case just got re-opened."

_A.N.: I want to apologize for not updating in so long. Believe me, I realize how long it has been since the last chapter and what a bad writer it makes me but the last six months have been very difficult to me. I'm not particularly fond of sharing personal information, but what happened is that my mother is very sick (it's her liver) and things have not being easy in my house lately, that plus the fact that we're not in our best economic situation (we're facing a few problems) and my senior year of high school (which is not exactly easy either) made it really difficult for me to update. _

_Luckily, things have gotten a little better at home and now I'm in my best mood to start writing again. To those who also read With or Without You, look forward to an update in a few days!_

_Thank you for the reviews and to those who alerted!_


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